Green Options » Morgan Stanley http://greenoptions.com/tag/morgan-stanley Posts tagged 'Morgan Stanley' Fri, 28 Aug 2009 20:45:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 en International Wind Power Business Acquisition — Confidence in the US http://cleantechnica.com/2009/08/28/international-wind-power-business-confidence-in-the-us/ http://cleantechnica.com/2009/08/28/international-wind-power-business-confidence-in-the-us/#comments Fri, 28 Aug 2009 20:45:19 +0000 Zachary Shahan http://cleantechnica.com/2009/08/28/international-wind-power-business-confidence-in-the-us/
A major move in the wind power industry this week shows international confidence in wind power in the US. A multi-million dollar acquisition by a British investment firm demonstrates that large financial players are seeing the US as a good place to invest in wind power.

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]]> http://cleantechnica.com/2009/08/28/international-wind-power-business-confidence-in-the-us/feed/ Economy In Recession: The Cost Of Allowing Lehman Brothers to Fail http://inspiredeconomist.com/2008/10/15/economy-in-recession-the-cost-of-allowing-lehman-brothers-to-fail/ http://inspiredeconomist.com/2008/10/15/economy-in-recession-the-cost-of-allowing-lehman-brothers-to-fail/#comments Wed, 15 Oct 2008 06:26:01 +0000 Reenita Malhotra http://inspiredeconomist.com/2008/10/15/economy-in-recession-the-cost-of-allowing-lehman-brothers-to-fail/ The failure of Lehman Brothers is seen as the last straw that broke the credit market. The financial markets have been in a state of complete disarray ever since the U.S. Government allowed Lehman Brothers to file for bankruptcy on September 15th 2008 instead of intervening to save it, as it did with Bear Sterns and later with the insurance company, American International Group.

Many have questioned U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson’s decision to let Lehman Brothers fail. Christine Lagarde, French finance minister, claimed that the decision was “horrendous.” This has been echoed by many other European policy makers and investors who blame the decision on ideology, claiming that Paulson refused to offer aid to avoid accusations of moral hazard.

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]]> http://inspiredeconomist.com/2008/10/15/economy-in-recession-the-cost-of-allowing-lehman-brothers-to-fail/feed/ Death of Wall Street, Rise of Main Street http://inspiredeconomist.com/2008/09/22/death-of-wall-street-rise-of-main-street/ http://inspiredeconomist.com/2008/09/22/death-of-wall-street-rise-of-main-street/#comments Mon, 22 Sep 2008 20:21:40 +0000 Reenita Malhotra http://inspiredeconomist.com/2008/09/22/death-of-wall-street-rise-of-main-street/ Morgan Stanley

The beginnings of another new economy are taking shape as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs prepare to close the curtain on investment banking.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan’s largest bank, will inject 900 billion yen ($8.4 billion) into Morgan Stanley to help it transition to a bank holding company. Goldman Sach’s strategy is slightly different albeit with the same ultimate objective i.e. to become a commercial bank. According to Bloomberg, Goldman already has in excess of $20 billion in customer deposits in two subsidiaries and is creating a new one, GS Bank USA, that will have more than $150 billion of assets, making it one of the 10 largest banks in the U.S.

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]]> http://inspiredeconomist.com/2008/09/22/death-of-wall-street-rise-of-main-street/feed/ Financial Crisis: What Will The Collapse of Investment Banking Mean For CSR? http://inspiredeconomist.com/2008/09/19/financial-crisis-what-will-the-collapse-of-investment-banking-mean-for-csr/ http://inspiredeconomist.com/2008/09/19/financial-crisis-what-will-the-collapse-of-investment-banking-mean-for-csr/#comments Fri, 19 Sep 2008 22:25:16 +0000 Reenita Malhotra http://inspiredeconomist.com/2008/09/19/financial-crisis-what-will-the-collapse-of-investment-banking-mean-for-csr/ Wall Street Crisis In view of the current financial crisis, it is hard to grasp the fact that overnight investment banks once regarded the kings of Wall Street, are teetering on the edge of stability. The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers has threatened the survival of Morgan Stanley in spite of the fact that it has just declared great earnings. All eyes are on Morgan and Goldman Sachs, the two big I-banks left standing. Will they go next? What will this mean for corporate social responsibility in the investment banking sector?

Investment Banks have long been the entrepreneurs of Wall Street. Sure they take risk but then look at the return that they bring. In a capitalistic society, who doesn’t respect the work of an entrepreneur? Time and again they have been instrumental for fueling the economy. A high return on investment has enabled many of the investment banks to show a solid to commitment to corporate social responsibility in the last few years:

  • Lehman Brothers partnered with Spelman College a year ago to create a center for Global Finance and Economic Development at the college to prepare women of African descent for successful careers and leadership in the corporate world.
  • Morgan Stanley announced last year the creation of the Morgan Stanley Carbon Bank to assist clients seeking to become carbon neutral.
  • Goldman Sachs has just announced 10,000 women, a series of non-profit and academic partnerships that provide business an d management education to women in Brazil, India, China and the Philippines.

There has been much question about the Fed refusing to bail Lehman out for a paltry amount in comparison to what it was willing to pay to bail out AIG. Although their claim is that it is not socially responsible to bail out an investment bank with taxpayer dollars, the larger questions lies in that is it socially responsible for the Fed to allow the entrepreneurs of Wall Street to fail when they are actually working to serve society by demonstrating commitment to CSR?

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]]> http://inspiredeconomist.com/2008/09/19/financial-crisis-what-will-the-collapse-of-investment-banking-mean-for-csr/feed/ Banks Announce “Carbon Principles” http://sustainablog.org/2008/02/05/banks-announce-carbon-principles/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/02/05/banks-announce-carbon-principles/#comments Wed, 06 Feb 2008 01:47:07 +0000 Maria Surma Manka http://sustainablog.org/2008/02/05/banks-announce-carbon-principles/ dollar-in-dirt.jpgSpurred by looming federal policy on CO2 emissions, many banks are exploring how to mitigate their financial risk as much as possible. This week, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and JP Morgan announced guidelines to help them determine whether to lend money to projects that emit a lot of carbon dioxide (CO2) - like coal-fired power plants.

The Principles are:

  • Energy efficiency: Encourage clients to invest in efficiency measures, taking into consideration the value of avoided CO2 emissions; encourage regulatory and legislative changes that increase efficiency in electricity consumption including the removal of barriers to investment in cost-effective demand reduction.
  • Renewable and low carbon distributed energy technologies: Encourage clients to invest in cost-effective renewables and distributed technologies, taking into consideration the value of avoided CO2 emissions. We will also encourage legislative and regulatory changes that remove barriers to, and promote such investments.
  • Conventional and advanced generation: Investing in CO2-emitting fossil fuel generation entails uncertain financial, regulatory and certain environmental liability risks. Encourage regulatory and legislative changes that facilitate carbon capture and storage (CCS) to further reduce emissions.

An attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council lauded this move in the bank industry’s news release:

Expectations are rising fast for this industry. Global warming is changing the competitive landscape. Clean power is the name of the game today. Conventional coal facilities are already facing intensive scrutiny. We think the serious money is increasingly going to be on clean, efficient solutions.

But as Matt over at Watthead pointed out, these are just guidelines - the banks are certainly not saying they won’t ever finance another old-fashioned coal plant.

Watthead
Citigroup

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